Today's Wiki-est, Amazonian GoogliesAcross1. Shade of brown : MOCHA
Mocha is a port city in Yemen on the Red Sea and was once the principal port for the capital city of Sana’a. Mocha was the major marketplace in the world for coffee until the 1600s, and gave its name to the Mocha coffee bean.

6. Javert's portrayer in 2012's "Les Misérables" : CROWE
Russell Crowe is a highly successful actor from New Zealand. Understandably, he doesn’t like people to call him “Australian”, even though it was in Australia that he launched his acting career. Not too long before the 9/11 attacks, the FBI contacted Crowe to inform him that al-Qaeda was plotting to kidnap him as part of a general attack on high-profile “American” icons. For a few months the New Zealander was guarded by Secret Service agents.

19. All-time leader in R.B.I.'s : AARON
The great Hank Aaron has many claims to fame. One notable fact is that he was last major league baseball player to have also played in the Negro League.

21. Common quatrain form : ABAA
A quatrain is a group of four lines of poetry.

22. Indian tourist destination : AGRA
The Indian city of Agra is home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites:

- The Taj Mahal: the famous mausoleum built in memory of Mumtaz Mahal.
- Agra Fort: the site where the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond was seized.
- Fatehpur Sikri: a historic city that’s home to well-preserved Mughal architecture.

28. Carrier for Casanovas? : ROUE AIRLINES
"Roue" is a lovely word, I think, describing a less than lovely man. A roue could otherwise be described as a cad, someone of loose morals. "Roue" comes from the French word "rouer" meaning "to break on a wheel". This describes the ancient form of capital punishment where a poor soul was lashed to a wheel and then beaten to death with cudgels and bars. I guess the suggestion is that a roue, with his loose morals, deserves such a punishment.

31. Thanksgiving, e.g.: Abbr. : THU
Thanksgiving Day was observed on different dates in different states for many years, until Abraham Lincoln fixed the date for the whole country in 1863. Lincoln’s presidential proclamation set that date as the last Thursday in November. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday to the fourth Thursday in November, arguing that the earlier date would give the economy a much-needed boost.

34. Italian tourist destination in the Mediterranean : ELBA
I had a lovely two-week vacation in Tuscany once, including what was supposed to be a two-night stay on the island of Elba. I had envisioned Elba as a place full of history, and maybe it is, but it is also overrun with tourists who use it as a beach getaway. We left after one day and we won't be going back again …

39. Supreme Court justice known for his trenchant dissents : SCALIA
Antonin Scalia was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Reagan in 1986, and is now the longest serving member of the court. Justice Scalia’s minority opinions are known for the scathing language that he uses to criticize the Court’s majority.

46. Medium for body art : HENNA
Henna has been used for centuries as a dye, not just for leather and wool, but also for the hair and skin. In modern days, henna is also used for temporary tattoos.

52. Aid for a submarine séance? : UNDERSEA OUIJA
The Ouija board was introduced to America as a harmless parlor game at the end of the 19th century, although variations of the board date back to 1100 BC in China, where it was apparently used to "contact" the spirit world. The name "Ouija" is relatively recent, and is probably just a combination of the French and German words for "yes" ... "oui" and "ja".

60. Cake with a kick : BABA
Rum baba (also “baba au rhum” in French) is a small yeast cake saturated in rum, and sometimes filled with whipped cream. Rum baba is derived from the recipe for the tall "babka" yeast cake that was introduced to the world by the Polish communities. The Polish words "baba" and "babka" mean "old woman" or "grandmother" in English. I guess someone must have thought that all grandmothers were saturated in rum!

62. Venus de ___ : MILO
The famous "Venus de Milo" is so named as she was discovered in the ruins of the ancient city of Milos, on the Aegean island of the same name. I've been lucky enough to see the statue, in the Louvre in Paris, and was surprised at how large it is (6 ft 8 in tall).

65. Kings and queens: Abbr. : SOVS
Sovereigns (sovs.)

66. Achieve nirvana : FIND PEACE
Nirvana is a philosophical concept in some Indian-based religions. In the Buddhist tradition, nirvana is the state of being free from suffering i.e. not experiencing craving, anger or other afflicting states.

73. Savoir-faire : TACT
"Savoir-faire" is of course a French term, and literally means "to know (how) to do". There's a similar term in French that we haven't absorbed into English. "Savoir-vivre" means "to know how to live". Savoir-vivre describes the ability to acquit oneself well in the world, in society.

81. 4x4, e.g. : ATV
All-terrain vehicle (ATV)

82. Hawaiian wine lover? : MAUI OENOPHILE
In Greek mythology, Oeno was the goddess of wine, giving us "oen-" as a prefix meaning "wine". For example, oenology is the study of wine and an oenophile is a wine-lover.

85. Vice ___ : VERSA
"Vice versa" is a Latin phrase meaning "with position turned". We always pronounce this term "incorrectly". In Latin, a "c" is always a hard sound, and a "v" is pronounced like a "w". The pronunciation should be something like "wee-kay wehr-sa".

87. Big name in batteries : DELCO
Delco Electronics took its name from Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company. Often seen as ACDelco, the AC stands for Albert Champion, famous for his work to develop the spark plug.

93. Odin's home : ASGARD
Asgard is one of the Nine Worlds of Norse religions. It is where the Norse gods live, and is also home to Valhalla, the enormous hall ruled over by the god Odin.

101. Moo ___ pork : SHU
Moo shu pork is a traditional dish from northern China, with the main ingredients being shredded pork and scrambled egg.

103. Last words from a coxswain? : ADIEU, OARSMAN
"Adieu" is the French for "goodbye" or "farewell", from "à Dieu" meaning "to God".

The coxswain of a boat is one in charge, particularly of its steering and navigation. The name is shortened to "cox" particularly when used for the person steering and calling out the stroke in a competition rowing boat.

107. American alternative : CHEDDAR
Cheddar cheese takes its name from the English village of Cheddar in Somerset. Over 50% of the cheese sold in the UK is cheddar. Here in the US cheddar is the second most popular cheese sold, behind Mozzarella.

112. Garlicky sauce in central Europe? : PRAGUE AIOLI
To the purist, especially in Provence in the South of France, the “home” of aioli, aioli is prepared just by grinding garlic with olive oil. However, other ingredients are often added to the mix, particularly egg yolks.

The beautiful city of Prague is today the capital of the Czech Republic. Prague's prominence in Europe has come and gone over the centuries. For many years it was the capital city of the Holy Roman Empire.

115. English princess : ANNE
Anne, Princess Royalwas born in 1950 and is the only daughter of British Queen Elizabeth II. Princess Anne has been in the public spotlight for many things, including her success as an equestrian. Princess Anne was the first member of the British Royal Family to have competed in an Olympic Games. Her daughter Zara Philips continued the tradition and competed as a member of the British equestrian team in the 2012 Olympic Games. Zara's medal was presented to her by her own mother, Princess Anne.

118. Sporty car roofs : T-TOPS
A T-top is a car roof that has removable panels on either side of a rigid bar that runs down the center of the vehicle above the driver.

119. High land : MESA
"Mesa" is the Spanish for "table" and is of course is how we get the term "mesa" that describes a geographic feature. "What's the difference between a butte and a mesa?" I hear you cry! Both are hills with flat tops, but a mesa has a top that is wider than it is tall. A butte is a much narrower formation, taller than it is wide.

121. Swift composition : ESSAY
Jonathan Swift was an Irish author and cleric. Swift is most famous perhaps for his 1726 novel "Gulliver's Travels", but we Irishmen also remember him also as the Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. Swift was renowned for his wit and satire.

122. "Narcissus and Goldmund" author : HESSE
Hermann Hesse was not only a novelist, but also a poet and a painter. Hesse’s best known work is probably his 1927 novel "Steppenwolf".

Down1. One side in a computer rivalry : MACS
Macintosh (also “Mac”) is a line of computers from Apple Inc. The first Mac was introduced in 1984, and I remember someone showing me one at work in those early days of personal computing. There was a piece of white plastic connected to the main computer by a cord, and I was amazed when the guy showed me that it controlled where the cursor was on the screen. My colleague told me that this lump of plastic was called "a mouse" ...

2. Home of the Waianae Range : OAHU
O'ahu has been called "The Gathering Place", although the word "O'ahu" has no translation in Hawaiian. It seems that O'ahu is simply the name of the island. One story is that it is named after the son of the Polynesian navigator that first found the islands. The island is made up of two volcanoes, Wai’anae and Ko’olau, joined together by a broad valley, the O’ahu Plain.

3. Start of some blended juice names : CRAN-
When early European settlers came across red berries growing in the bogs of the northern part of America, they felt that the plant's flower and stem resembled the head and bill of a crane. As such, they called the plant "craneberry", which later evolved into "cranberry".

6. Putsch : COUP
A coup d'état (often just "coup") is the sudden overthrow of a government, and comes from the French for "stroke of state". The Swiss German word “putsch” is sometimes used instead of “coup”, with “Putsch” translating literally as “sudden blow”.

7. Studio behind "Suspicion" and "Notorious" : RKO
The RKO Pictures studio was formed when RCA (RADIO Corporation of America) bought the KEITH-Albee-ORPHEUM theaters (and Joe Kennedy's Film Booking Offices of America). The RKO acronym then comes from the words “Radio”, “Keith” and “Orpheum”.

“Suspicion” is a 1941 Hitchcock film starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine. The film is based on a 1932 novel called “Before the Fact” by Francis Ile. Fontaine won the Academy Award for Best actress for her performance, marking the only time that any actor won an Oscar under the direction of Alfred Hitchcock.

"Notorious" is an interesting Hitchcock film made in 1946 starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman. I find it interesting as it is such a different dramatic role for Cary Grant, and a more gritty role for the lovely Ingrid Bergman, and the great Claude Rains is in there for good measure. It's a story of espionage, love and intrigue set in Rio de Janeiro where there is a group of German Nazis hiding out after WWII. Definitely worth a rental if you've never seen it ...

9. Whiskered creature : WALRUS
There are three families of seals. The first is the walrus family, the second the eared seals (like sea lions), and thirdly the earless seals.

10. International gas brand : ESSO
The brand name Esso has its roots in the old Standard Oil company as it uses the initial letters of "Standard" and "Oil" (ESS-O). The Esso brand was replaced by Exxon in the US, but ESSO is still used in many other countries.

11. Stan Lee's role in many a Marvel film : CAMEO
Stan Lee did just about everything at Marvel Comics over the years, from writing to being president and chairman of the board. If you like superhero movies based on the characters from Marvel Comics, then you could spend a few hours trying to spot Stan Lee in those films as he has a penchant for making cameo appearances. Lee can be spotted in “X-Men” (2000), “Spider-Man” (2002), “Hulk” (2003), “Fantastic Four” (2005), “Iron Man” (2008) and many more.

14. Wee ones : BAIRNS
“Bairn” is a Scots word for “child”.

17. "Dies ___" : IRAE
"Dies Irae" is Latin for "Day of Wrath". It is the name of a famous melody in Gregorian Chant, one that is often used as part of the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass.

18. Girl in tartan : LASS
Tartan is sometimes called "plaid" over here in the US, a word not used in the same sense outside of this country. In Scotland a "plaid" is a blanket or a tartan cloth slung over the shoulder.

24. Docs united : AMA
American Medical Association (AMA)

26. Keys with tunes : ALICIA
Alicia Keys is the stage name of Alicia Cook, an R&B and soul singer from Hell’s Kitchen in New York City.

34. Self centers : EGOS
Sigmund Freud created a structural model of the human psyche, breaking it into three parts: the id, the ego, and the super-ego. The id is that part of the psyche containing the basic instinctual drives. The ego seeks to please the id by causing realistic behavior that benefits the individual. The super-ego almost has a parental role, contradicting the id by introducing critical thinking and morals to behavioral choices.

36. All the writings of a Persian faith? : BAHA'I OEUVRE
The Baha'i Faith is relatively new in the scheme of things, and was founded in Persia in the 1800s. One of the tenets of the religion is that messengers have come from God over time, including Abraham, the Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, and most recently Bahá'u'lláh who founded the Baha'i Faith.

The sum of an artist’s work in his or her lifetime is known as his or her “oeuvre”.

37. Fictional Billy : BUDD
"Billy Budd" is a novella by American author Herman Melville, although he never actually finished it before he died in 1891.

38. Hit show with many hits : THE SOPRANOS
"The Sopranos" is an outstanding television drama that was made by HBO and is a story about Italian-American mobsters in New Jersey. "The Sopranos" has made more money than any other television series in the history of cable television. It's "must see TV" ...

40. "Happily ever after" with Han Solo? : LEIA OUTCOME
Princess Leia is Luke Skywalker’s sister in the original "Star Wars" trilogy and was played by Carrie Fisher. Carrie Fisher has stated that she hated the famous "cinnamon bun hairstyle" that she had to wear in the films, as she felt it made her face look too round. She also had to to sit for two hours every day just to get her hair styled. Two hours to get your hair done? It takes me just two seconds ...

41. 2004 movie set in 2035 : I, ROBOT
“I, Robot” is an interesting 2002 science fiction film starring Will Smith that is loosely based on the excellent collection of short stories of the same name by Isaac Asimov.

42. Indian state known for its tea : ASSAM
Assam is a state in the very northeast of India, just south of the Himalayas. Assam is noted for its tea as well as its silk.

47. Seasonal beverage : NOG
It's not really clear where the term "nog" comes from although it might derive from the word "noggin", which was originally a small wooden cup that was long associated with alcoholic drinks.

53. Word between last names : NEE
"Née" is the French word for "born" when referring to a female. The male equivalent is "né".

55. Wailing Wall pilgrim : JEW
The Western Wall (also called the Wailing Wall) is a remnant of an ancient wall that surrounded the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. The wall is a sacred site for the faithful, and has been a place for prayer and pilgrimage for centuries. The term “Wailing” was assigned in English as many Jewish people came to the site to mourn the destruction of the Temple.

58. Got back to, in a way : RSVP’D
RSVP stands for "répondez s'il vous plaît", which is French for "please, answer".

62. Toon with a polka-dot hair bow : MINNIE
Minnie and Mickey were both introduced to the world in 1928. Minnie was originally known as Minerva, and sometimes still is. Minnie has two pets: a dog called Fifi and a cat called Figaro.

65. New York's ___ Island : STATEN
Staten Island is part of New York City and is the least populous of the city's five boroughs. The island was originally called Staaten Eylandt by Henry Hudson and was named after the Dutch parliament, the Staaten Generaal.

66. Charlatan : FRAUD
A charlatan is someone who makes false claims of skill or knowledge. It is a word we imported from French, although the original derivation is the Italian “ciarlatano”, the term for “a quack”.

70. Many Eastern Europeans : SLAVS
The Slavic peoples are in the majority in communities covering over half of Europe. This large ethnic group is traditionally broken down into three smaller groups:

- the West Slavic (including Czechs and Poles)
- the East Slavic (including Russians and Ukrainians)
- the South Slavic (including Bulgarians and Serbs)

71. "WWE Raw" airer : USA
"WWE Raw" is a professional wrestling TV show. Apparently it is the longest running, weekly television show in history (that hasn't taken a break), having been on the air continuously since 1993.

76. "Almighty" item: Abbr. : DOL
The almighty dollar (dol.)

92. Brown weasels : STOATS
Ermine is another name for the stoat. The stoat has dark brown fur in the summer, and white fur in the winter. Sometimes the term "ermine" is reserved for the animal during the winter when the fur is white. Ermine skins have long been prized by royalty and are often used for white trim on ceremonial robes.

98. Actress Durance who played Lois Lane on "Smallville" : ERICA
Erica Durance is an actress from Calgary, Alberta. Durance played Lois Lane in the TV show “Smallville” and now plays the lead in the medical drama “Saving Hope”.

99. Fancy neckwear : ASCOT
An Ascot tie is that horrible-looking (I think!) wide tie that narrows at the neck, which these days is only really worn at weddings. The tie takes its name from the Royal Ascot horse race at which punters still turn up in formal wear at Ascot Racecourse in England.

101. "And ___ Was" (1985 Talking Heads single) : SHE
Talking Heads was a New Wave band from New York City, formed in 1974 and active until 1991. I couldn’t name one of their songs to be honest, well, I guess I now know that they sang “And She Was” …

102. ___ bar : HEATH
The Heath candy bar is the invention of brothers Bayard and Everett Heath in the 1920s.

103. Singer Lambert : ADAM
Adam Lambert is one of the "successes" to come out of the "American Idol" machine.

106. Recess : APSE
The apse of a church or cathedral is a semicircular recess in an outer wall, usually with a half-dome as a roof and often where there resides an altar. Originally apses were used as burial places for the clergy and also for storage of important relics.

107. Big Apple sch. : CUNY
New York City’s public university system is called the City University of New York (CUNY). CUNY is made of 24 institutions and is the largest urban university in the whole country. it is also the third largest university system in the US, after the State University of New York and California State University.

108. Ski-___ (snowmobiles) : DOOS
Ski-Doo is a brand name of snowmobile produced by the Canadian company, Bombardier Recreational Products. The first Ski-Doo went on sale in 1959 and was intended to be named a "Ski-Dog" as the marketing concept was that the personal snowmobile would replace the dogsleds used by hunters and trappers. A painter misread instructions and wrote "Ski-Doo" on the side of the vehicle instead of Ski-Dog, and the name stuck.

109. Challenge for Hannibal : ALPS
Hannibal was a military commander from Ancient Carthage. Hannibal lived during a time of great conflict between Carthage and the Roman Republic, as the Romans worked to extend their influence over the Mediterranean region. Famously, Hannibal took on Rome on their own territory by marching his army, including his war elephants, over the Alps into Italy. His forces occupied much of Italy for 15 years.

114. Indian tourist destination : GOA
Goa is the smallest state in India, and is located in the southwest of the country. The Portuguese landed in Goa in the early 1500s, at first peacefully carrying out trade, but then took the area by force creating Portuguese India. Portugal held onto Portuguese India even after the British pulled out of India in 1947, until the Indian Army marched into the area in 1961.

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Princess Anne's daughter Zara Phillips is also a very accomplished equestrienne, who competed in the 2012 Olympics with the British Eventing Team. They won the silver medal, so she is carrying on her mother's tradition.

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About This Blog

This is the simplest of blogs.

I do the New York Times puzzle online every evening, the night before it is published in the paper. Then, I "Google & Wiki" the references that puzzle me, or that I find of interest. I post my findings, along with the solution, as soon as I am done, usually well before the newsprint version becomes available.

About Me

The name's William Ernest Butler, but please call me Bill. I grew up in Ireland, but now live out here in the San Francisco Bay Area. I am retired, from technology businesses that took our family all over the world.

Crosswords and My Dad

I worked on my first crossword puzzle when I was about 6-years-old, sitting on my Dad's knee. He let me "help" him with his puzzle almost every day as I was growing up. Over the years, Dad passed on to me his addiction to crosswords. Now in my early 50s, I work on my Irish Times and New York Times puzzles every day. I'm no longer sitting on my Dad's knee, but I feel that he is there with me, looking over my shoulder.

This blog is dedicated to my Dad, who passed away at the beginning of this month.